It's The Bigs!

Hey Yankees fans!  Something big to celebrate this season as Aaron Judge nurses his toe injury and the Rays continue to run off with the AL East.  It's the first time we've seen perfection since 2012 when the King of Seattle, Felix Hernandez, twirled perfection against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 15th, 2012.  Over a full decade without perfection and I thought it might be a nice idea to see where Domingo's perfection ranks among those we've seen in this generation of players.  I'm going to count the perfect games since May 23rd, 1998 when David Wells threw his perfecto and was carried off the field "half drunk."  Oh yes, stories to be had during this entry. 1)  Domingo German - June 28th, 2023 in Oakland facing the A's 99 pitches, 9K, 2 3-ball counts.  * Ryan Noda,  4th inning, ended in K.   * Jonah Bride,  8th inning, ended in ground out.  The final two batters of the game were retired on the first pitches to get him under 10...

 In years past, we've seen many of the top stars in MLB have their service time manipulated by a major league club in hopes of being able to have one extra year of control over the player before either signing him long-term or cutting ties in some capacity.  The most prominent of these players was Kris Bryant who had his service time manipulated for a few weeks back in 2015 so the Cubs could have the extra year of control.  He sued the Cubs and lost but the issue was made mainstream and eventually changed in the most recent CBA betwen the MLBPA and MLB itself. That new CBA may have given incentive for the ball clubs to have one major rookie up on opening day in hopes of gaining an extra draft pick if that player wins Rookie Of The Year honors.  Brand new for the 2023 season, we saw some of the following names up with the big clubs on opening day: Gunnar Henderson, INF Baltimore Orioles Ezequiel Tovar, SS Colorado Rockies Anthony Volpe, SS New York Yankees Corbin Carr...

  Who are the 2023 Pittsburgh Pirates? At first glance, they appear to be nothing more than another last-place, rag-tag group of veterans nearing the end, rookies coming through the system and reclamation projects in hopes of catching lightning in a bottle. At writing, this group is 18-8 and in first place of the NL Central. That sentence -- in and of itself -- is something I never thought I'd write on this blog in April, but here we are. Let's look over this group and see how we got here: Rotation: Mitch Keller - 27 y/o - Drafted, 2nd Round, 2014. This is the next Gerrit Cole, Joe Musgrove... he's the ace of the future. I don't know that he has the ceiling of either of those guys... or even half that of those guys, but this is the ace of the future. Vince Velasquez - 30 y/o - Signed 1yr/3.15M - Vinny V has been that fringe streamer pitcher in fantasy circles that you'd try to find during his journey through MLB. Starting with Houston then going to Philadel...

 Back at the rankings again here with catchers this time.  Lots of movement among the top tier this year and we're suddenly in an era of catcher where there are plenty of viable options in 12 team leagues and for those in deeper leagues, you'd see a slew of options far deeper than in years past.  Let's dive in. Honorable Mention:  Logan O'Hoppe LAA, Gabriel Moreno ARI, Jonah Heim/Mitch Garver TEX, Yasmani Grandal CWS.  One sentence on each. O'Hoppe was the piece the Angels received in the Brandon Marsh trade with Philadelphia and takes over the starting reigns as a rookie in 2023 from Max Stassi who hit .180.  Gabriel Moreno one of two pieces in a trade we will talk about later but is going to see regular playing time in Arizona taking over for Carson Kelly who hit .211.  Whoever wins the job in Texas has some appeal with that offense and both may return value if they fit as a DH.  Grandal is a sweet buy-low off a disappointing and injury plagued ...

What's going on, guys?!  Episode 47 of It's The Bigs Podcast is the National League Transactions Podcast matching episode 45's AL Transactions Podcast.  These are the notes  Arizona Diamondbacks Options Ian Kennedy, Club 4M (did not agree, FA) Zach Davies, Mutual 1.5M (Davies declined, FA) Notable Free Agents: Paul Fry JB Wendelken Upcoming Prospects: OF Corbin Carroll OF Kristian Robinson (legal issue, immigration) SP Drey Jameson SP Ryne Nelson SP Brandon Pfaadt Non-Tender Releases: Reyes Moronta Signings: Miguel Castro - 1/3.5M Trades: Acquired OF Kyle Lewis from SEA for C/OF Cooper Hummel Acquired C Gabriel Moreno and INF/OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr from TOR for C/OF Daulton Varsho Acquired INF Diego Castillo from PIT for RHP Scott Randall Atlanta Braves Options: SP Jake Odorizzi, Player Option 12.5M (Team Exercised) Notable Free Agents: Kenley Jansen Dansby Swanson Adam Duvall Robbie Grossman Luke Jackson Ehire Adrianza Jesse Chavez Darren O’Day Alex Dickerson Upcoming Pro...